The Haunting Of Dinkley Hall
by Scoobyfan1
Summary: Velma inherits her family's ancestral home in England and ends up living there. However when she arrives she discovers a mystery involving one of her own ancestors. Some minor Shaggy/Velma moments throughout.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Scooby Doo and all related characters and trademarks are copyright 2009 Hanna-Barbera Productions/Warner Brothers/Cartoon Network. I am not making any money off of writing this story I am just a fan. Also this story will be similar to the 1980-82 Scary Scooby Funnies/Scooby and Scrappy Doo series but with Fred, Daphne and Velma instead of Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy Doo.

Author's Notes #2: Also, major thanks to millett20165 from the Velma Dinkley Yahoo Group who helped me out by giving me an idea and title for this story when I posted a message about getting some assistance in writing Scooby Doo stories, thank you very much for the help. The idea for this story came at least partially from the Pup Named Scooby Doo episode "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner?" and partially from the Hanna-Barbera Productions cartoon series "The Funky Phantom". Also this story does include Scrappy but only in a small portion of it.

Chapter 1

Velma Dinkley, one of the members of the internationally known detective agency known as Mystery Inc. sat in an easy chair in the front room of the small house that she lived in, the house was a modest one-bedroom home located in the outskirts of Coolsville. The bespectacled girl was reading one of her favorite Sherlock Holmes stories: _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ when she heard a knock on the front door; Velma put her book down, got out of her chair and walked over to the front door.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" the bespectacled investigator called as she approached the door.

She reached the door, turned the knob and opened it; in the doorway stood a man that looked to be in his mid thirties, he was wearing a dark blue delivery person's uniform along with dark blue pants and he was carrying a package wrapped in brown paper.

"I have a special delivery package for a Velma Dinkley" the man explained.

"Yes, I'm Velma Dinkley" she answered.

"Good, sign here please" the delivery person commented.

He gave a clipboard with a white piece of paper and a pen to Velma; she signed the paper and gave the clipboard back to him; the delivery person handed her the package and said his good-byes, she wished him goodbye and closed the front door.

With package in hand Velma walked back over to her chair and sat down; she looked at the package curiously and wondered what was in it.

She noticed the mailing address on the package and scratched her head.

"Hmm, according the package this was sent from England; do I know anyone over there?" Velma thought to herself.

Velma slowly opened the brown paper package; inside were various papers and a set of keys, she wondered why someone would send her something like this.

She then decided to read the letter and was somewhat surprised, even a bit shocked by its contents.

"Dear Miss Velma Dinkley, this is to inform you that you are the new owner of Dinkley Hall in the town of Dinkley, England; Dinkley Hall is an ancient castle which is the ancestral family home of the Dinkley family, please find enclosed in this package: papers detailing the history of the castle and surrounding area, plane tickets to England and a set of keys that will give you access to every room in the house and all of the buildings on the grounds; when you receive this package please use the plane tickets enclosed to travel to England at your earliest convenience, we hope that you have a good time in our country and we look forward to your arrival signed, Stephen Brownstein head of the Blackpool Historical Society", she finished reading the letter folded it up and placed it on a small table in the living room.

"Wow, I've wanted to visit my ancestral family home for many years and now I have a chance to do it" Velma thought.

Velma sat back down in her chair and pondered her current situation; after some thought she decided to call the rest of the gang about her upcoming trip.

"Hmm, I don't know where Shaggy and Scooby are so they probably couldn't join us; Fred and Daphne might be at home, I know both of them might be working on other things though; hmm, you know I think I'll see if they're busy, maybe they can accompany me to Great Britain" Velma thought to herself.

She then walked over to the phone and dialed Daphne's number; the phone rang a couple of times before Velma heard a familiar voice on the line.

"Hello this is Daphne Blake" called the voice.

"Daphne, it's me Velma" she replied.

"Oh hello Velma, what's up?" Daphne asked.

"Plenty, I just got a package from England saying that apparently I inherited my family's ancestral family home" Velma replied.

"Wow, that's terrific Velma, that sounds pretty exciting" she commented.

"Yeah, it is isn't it? Well, I figured that I could use a nice restful vacation, plus I haven't been to England in a while so I decided that I'm going to head over to Dinkley Hall and live there for a while" Velma replied.

"Sounds fun, Fred and I will visit you if and when we get a chance to, okay?" Daphne remarked.

"Sure Daphne, I would love to have you and Fred visit, looking forward to seeing you" Velma replied.

"OK, bye Velma, see you soon and have fun" Daphne said.

"Sure will, and thanks" Velma replied.

Velma hung up the phone and smiled at the prospect of her friends visiting her; she thought about calling Fred to let him know but she knew that Daphne would fill him in on the details.

After she hung up the phone Velma walked back into her bedroom and began packing for her trip to England; she took out a suitcase from her closet, filled it with clothes, a few books, various toiletries and other items that she might need for her trip.

The bespectacled girl then walked back out into the living room of the house and over to the phone; she looked through the yellow pages looking for a taxi to come and pick her up, she didn't have her own car yet so her only choices for transportation were taking the bus, walking or taking a cab.

After finding the phone number of the Speedy Taxi Service she called the number given and told them she needed to be taken to Coolsville Airport; after giving the person who answered her address, she hung up the phone and waited.

Ten minutes later Velma looked out the window and saw a bright yellow cab parked in the driveway, she grabbed the package she had been sent along with her house keys and her suitcase and walked out the front door; the bespectacled girl locked the house up and walked over to the taxicab.

The front window of the cab slowly rolled down and a well-dressed man in his forties wearing a dark blue shirt and brown cap answered, the man smiled at Velma as she walked up to the vehicle.

"I'm here to pick up a woman named Velma Dinkley and take her to the Coolsville Airport, are you her?" the man asked.

"Sure am, and I'm all set to get going" the bespectacled girl replied.

"Excellent, if you'll buckle up please we can head out on our way" the man said.

Velma complied with the cab driver's request and buckled her seatbelt, after making sure she was safely secured in her seat the driver started up the car's engine and the vehicle drove out of the driveway headed towards the airport.

While he managed to keep his eyes on the road the man was quite curious as to what his passenger was going to do once she arrived at the airport, so he decided to ask make pleasant conversation with his passenger.

"So your name's Velma, correct?" the man asked.

"Yep, what's yours?" Velma replied.

"My name's Jonathan, I've been driving a cab for about five years now" the driver responded.

"That sounds interesting, do you like driving a cab?" Velma asked.

"Sure do, you meet a lot of interesting people in this job, sometimes it can be a pretty humdrum activity but it can be exciting on occasion; by the way miss, what do you do for a living and what brings you to the airport?" the driver asked.

"I'm a member of a detective agency called Mystery Inc. with my friends, actually you might have heard of us: their names are Shaggy, Scooby, Fred and Daphne" Velma explained.

"Hmm… you know I do seem to remember your names from somewhere; private detectives huh? That sounds pretty exciting" the driver replied.

"It sure is, and I have great friends to help me; I just wish they were coming along with me" Velma replied with a sigh.

"Oh? Where are your friends anyway?" the driver asked curiously.

"Shaggy and Scooby are somewhere with our van, and Fred and Daphne are working on various things at home but they said they would try and visit me soon" Velma replied.

"Sounds good, so where are you headed off to?" the driver asked.

"I received a letter from England which said that I have inherited my family's ancestral home, so I decided to fly there and live there for a while" Velma replied.

"Sounds interesting, hopefully you'll have a nice trip" the driver said.

"Thank You and I certainly will" Velma remarked.

The taxi cab continued through the small town of Coolsville and after about ten more minutes the bright yellow vehicle reached it's final destination; the cab pulled up to the curb making a stop outside the area that Velma was to go to catch her plane, she then paid for her cab fare and bid goodbye to the friendly cab driver as she exited the vehicle.

The bespectacled teenage sleuth entered the airport and walked to the ticket counter to check in, making sure that her ticket was for the correct flight and time; the ticket agent at the counter looked at the ticket and told her where the gate was that she was going to catch her flight at.

Velma thanked the agent and went on her way; the bespectacled girl sleuth walked through the airport, through security checkpoints and past numerous food stands, as well as numerous souvenir, newspaper and magazine stands before finding her gate.

After waiting a while a voice came over the airport loudspeaker telling the passengers to board the flight that Velma was scheduled to be on; the teen sleuth walked to the boarding gate, presented her ticket to the agent there and walked through the door towards the plane.

The bespectacled teenage sleuth walked on board the plane which was filled with hundreds of passengers; there were men, women and children of varying height and descriptions, as she found her seat Velma wondered where all of her fellow passengers were heading, however the teen sleuth knew exactly where she was heading and looked forward to getting in the air.

After going through the usual pre-flight procedure the plane taxied onto the runway, then started to gain altitude, finally the aircraft climbed into the air and began its trip across the Atlantic to Great Britain.

The bespectacled girl's flight was somewhat uneventful, during which Velma read a couple of the books that she had brought with her; she also had a conversation with the passenger who sat next to her, in this case a man in his mid twenties who told Velma he was attending college in England and was heading back there after some time in the United States visiting family.

For the last past of the flight Velma laid back in her seat and took a nap, she slept fairly pleasantly the whole time and wished that the rest of Mystery Inc. was going along with her as she was not used to taking a vacation by herself; however, she realized that at least Fred and Daphne would be coming to visit eventually so she wasn't too upset.

After several more hours Velma's plane landed at the Blackpool airport, she got off the plane and prepared to start her journey; after walking into the airport she found the rental car terminal and bought a medium-size red Volvo to drive.

Before leaving the airport she asked the rental car clerk about getting directions to Dinkley Hall; the clerk gave her the directions she asked for and went on her way.

Velma then opened the door to her rental car, got it and started on her way to her ancestral family home; she hoped that this trip wouldn't be too boring and that she would have some excitement while she was in England.

Velma had driven for about an hour and a half before reaching the small town of Dinkley; as she drove she marveled at the town which included several homes, a few small motels and various other buildings; also in the town were a suspension bridge which spanned the Ribbel River and numerous trees and plants.

Velma guided the red car through the main part of town past the buildings and trees and such; after a few minutes Velma found herself on the outskirts of the small village; she could see a large imposing structure in the distance.

She drove on as the small hamlet of Dinkley became merely something in the car's rear view mirror; as Velma's car continued on its way the imposing structure became bigger and bigger.

Velma stopped the car for a second as she could see a small sign posted at the side of the road.

"Dinkley Hall: 5 Kilometers" Velma said as she read the sign to herself.

The car continued down the small country road towards Dinkley Hall; the road that had been paved concrete was now a dirt road, Velma held on tightly to the wheel because she could see that the road was becoming a bit bumpy.

Finally Velma noticed that the large castle that had been in the distance was coming into view; it was becoming increasingly clear to her that Dinkley Hall was an imposing structure, the house featured two levels, several gargoyles which sat atop both sides of the castle roof as well as two main columns which were attached to what looked to be a large grey entryway.

Velma drove the car up the small driveway, parking it in front of the building; after which she turned off the engine and took her luggage from the vehicle.

She walked up to the large front door and used the gold doorknocker to try and get the attention of whoever was in the house.

After a few minutes of waiting Velma could hear footsteps coming from inside the house; the footsteps were beginning to get louder as Velma began to realize that someone was indeed coming.

The large metal door opened with a loud squeak and an older man with a mustache wearing a black suit, black pants and brown shoes answered.

"Yes, how can I help you?" he asked.

"Hello my name is Velma Dinkley, I received the package that the historical society sent me" Velma replied introducing herself.

"Oh, yes Miss Velma; we've been awaiting your arrival for some time now" the man commented.

"You have?" Velma asked curiously.

"Yes, I am quite happy that you arrived at Dinkley Hall; I understand that you came from the United States, was it a long journey?" the man asked.

"It seemed like it but it really wasn't that bad, by the way who are you?" Velma asked.

"Oh, forgive me; my name is Michael Collins, I am the caretaker of Dinkley Hall" he replied.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Collins" Velma responded.

"Yes it's nice to meet you as well; now if you will being your luggage inside I can show you the house and where you will be living" Mr. Collins replied.

"Sounds fine to me" Velma said.

Velma took her luggage out of the rental car and followed Mr. Collins into the house; the two of them walked into the front area of the hall.

The bespectacled girl found herself looking around as she walked through the cavernous front hall; while walking through the hall she noticed literally dozens of paintings, sculptures and other miscellaneous works of art throughout.

"My goodness, there certainly are a lot of portraits in here" Velma remarked.

"Yes, those are portraits of the various members of the Dinkley family over the generations" Mr. Collins explained.

"Like this one for example" Mr. Collins said as he showed Velma a portrait that hung on a nearby wall.

"This is a painting of your great grandmother Marilyn; she lived here along with her husband in the late 1800's" he explained, the picture was of a brunette haired woman that looked very similar to Velma; except for the fact that the woman in the picture had somewhat longer hair and wore a style of glasses similar to Benjamin Franklin's spectacles.

"Jinkies, what a neat portrait" Velma commented.

"Jinkies? Hmm… I've never heard that expression before" he replied.

"Really? Well it's kind of something I came up with a long time ago, it usually comes in pretty handy in my line of work" Velma commented.

"I've been meaning to ask you about that Miss Dinkley, what exactly is your line of work?" asked Mr. Collins.

"Well, my friends Fred, Daphne and Shaggy along with our dog Scooby Doo used to work as Private Detectives traveling all over the world solving various mysteries, although at the moment each of us are pretty much doing our own separate things, basically we're all taking sometime off from the mystery business; actually for several years, I worked as a research scientist at National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA for short, it was a pretty fun job and I enjoyed it very much, in fact I still have a few friends at NASA and I'll have to contact them one of these days " Velma explained.

"How interesting, you know I believe I saw something about NASA on the telly a while back, I think it was the moon landing with astronauts from the states if I remember correctly" Mr. Collins explained.

"The telly?" Velma replied with a quizzical look on her face.

"Yes, that's what you Americans would call television" Mr. Collins explained.

"Oh I see; so, you saw the moon landing over here on television or the telly as well?" Velma asked.

"That's right, it was quite thrilling and we really enjoyed over here" Mr. Collins replied.

"Terrific, the next time I talk to any of my colleagues at NASA, I'll have to tell them that people in Britain are interested in the US space program as well" Velma replied.

"By all means Miss Dinkley, I know I speak for many Brits when I say that we enjoy American culture; of course you yanks did beat us in the Revolutionary War but I won't hold that against you" Mr. Collins said with a half smiling half serious look on his face.

"Oh don't worry I won't hold that against you if you don't it against me" Velma replied with a chuckle.

"Sounds fine to me, by the way where are your friends now?" Mr. Collins asked.

"Well, Shaggy and Scooby took our van The Mystery Machine and are somewhere in the world; we haven't heard from them in quite a while, actually the last time we heard from them they were doing some odd jobs somewhere in the Pacific Northwest" Velma replied.

"That sounds very interesting; tell me what about your friends Fred and Daphne, where are they and what do they do for a living now?" he asked.

"Well, Fred and Daphne are back in the states, they may be heading over here to visit me though; actually when I worked at NASA Fred was a mystery writer and Daphne wrote for a magazine, so I guess you could say both of them liked to write quite a bit" Velma replied.

"Interesting, I may have to look up some of your friend's books or articles one of these days" Mr. Collins explained.

"I'm sure Fred and Daphne would both appreciate that" Velma replied.

"Yes I'm sure they would and it will be nice to meet them if they decide to visit here" Mr. Collins remarked.

"Thank you and I'm hoping they will come over here" Velma said.

"Miss Velma, I'm curious about something" Mr. Collins said.

"Very well" Velma replied.

"You mentioned that you and your friends work as private detectives; have you read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories" Mr. Collins asked.

"Of course I have, those are some of my favorite detective stories" Velma replied.

"Really, I never realized how popular Sherlock was in the states" he commented.

"Yes, he is quite popular in our part of the world" Velma remarked.

"Very good, by the way does your friend Fred write any stories similar to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle?" he asked.

"It really depends on his inspiration I guess, but most of the time his stories are supernatural based, although from what I remember there were quite a few Sherlock Holmes stories that dealt with the supernatural and the macabre" Velma replied.

"My my Miss Dinkley I'm quite impressed, actually Sir Arthur Conan Doyle did write a few Holmes novels with supernatural elements and I'm sure you've read them" Mr. Collins said.

"Yes I have, they're quite exciting" Velma replied.

"Ah excellent" Mr. Collins said.

"Mr. Collins, can you tell me where the room that I will be staying in is located?" Velma asked.

"Gladly Miss Dinkley, your room is at the top of the staircase, we should be there in a few moments" he replied.

The two of them then walked up the large winding old fashioned staircase and into a long hallway filled with numerous doors; eventually Mr. Collins led her to a room at the beginning of the hallway.

"Here you are Miss Dinkley, this will be your room for the duration of your stay" he said as he showed her around the room; it was a fairly regular sized bedroom with two nightstands, a closet, a lamp, a chest of drawers, a closet and a few other miscellaneous items.

"What a charming room, I'm certain that I will enjoy my stay here" Velma remarked.

"Very good, I'm confident that you will enjoy yourself as well" Mr. Collins replied.

"Thank You Mr. Collins, I greatly appreciate your help" Velma said.

"You're very welcome Miss Velma, if you need anything you can come find me" he replied.

"Thank You, if I have any questions or if I need anything I certainly will let you know" Velma said.

"Oh, I almost forgot; one more thing I should probably mention before I go, it would be best if you were very careful around here" Mr. Collins said.

"How come?" Velma asked.

"Well, you see Miss Velma; Dinkley Hall is how shall I put this, haunted" Mr. Collins explained.

"Haunted?" Velma asked curiously.

"Yes, haunted, spooked, ghost filled; whatever term you would use to describe a situation like this" Mr. Collins replied.

While Velma went over this information in her mind, she began to chuckle slightly, which caused Mr. Collins to respond to her statement, although it became apparent to the bespectacled girl that he wasn't too pleased with her most recent.

"I don't see what's so funny about your ancestral family home being haunted" he replied with a slightly annoyed tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry Mr. Collins, It's just that, well in all my years of detective work very few of the ghosts and supernatural creatures that my friends and I have encountered have turned out to be real" Velma explained.

"Well, I don't know about that but I do know that in this case the ghost is real" he commented.

"We'll see about that" Velma said.

"Fine, but just be very careful" Mr. Collins replied.

"I will Mr. Collins, I will" Velma commented.

Mr. Collins left the room, walked down the hallway and out of Velma's sight.

Velma unpacked her luggage, put her clothes away and put the luggage in the closet that was located on the side of the bedroom.

For the rest of the day Velma began to explore the several hundreds of rooms in Dinkley Hall; she explored the library, the kitchen and many other rooms in the house.

After having dinner, taking a shower and doing some light reading Velma went to sleep still thinking about her first day at Dinkley Hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Several hours had passed since Velma had gone to bed; she had been asleep for a couple hours when she began to hear some strange and mysterious noises.

Velma then slowly opened her eyes and sat up in her bed; she was confused at first as to what was happening but after some thought something in the logical and detective part of her brain clicked into place as she realized just what was really going on.

"Hmm, that caretaker has to be behind this, what other explanation is there than that; Mr. Collins has to be making these weird noises with some kind of tape recorder or sound effects or something like that" Velma thought to herself.

Like any good detective Velma decided to investigate these strange noises and find out their cause once and for all; she opened a drawer in the night stand next to her bed and found some candles and a book of matches, she then lit the candle with a match and walked out of the bedroom into a cobweb filled and ancient looking corridor.

Velma started to walk down the dark dimly lit hallway looking for any clues as to the strange noises that she had heard; but after a few minutes the noises seemed to subside and she decided to give up and walk back to her bedroom, that is or was what she was going to do until she began to hear the same noises as before.

As she stood in the hall way Velma could hear what sounded to her like chains rattling and ghostly moaning; the young sleuth then shone her candle around the hallway to try and find the source of the mysterious noises, soon the teenage sleuth realized that the noises had stopped once again and she decided to give up and walked back to her room.

"It's just as I figured; those noises were all just a figure of my imagination, nothing more nothing less" Velma thought to herself as she walked back into her bedroom.

She got back into her bed but she couldn't sleep, not just yet; she kept running the events of the last few minutes through her mind wondering why she heard what she heard, being a rational person she figured that somehow Mr. Collins or some one who worked for him was creating all the sound effects that she heard; how he did she wasn't sure yet but one thing was for sure: Velma knew that Dinkley Hall was in fact not haunted at all.

Not wanting to stay up all night and be obsessing about one thing, Velma decided to go back to sleep; she wondered what the rest of her stay at Dinkley Hall would be like and most important of all: would the so-called ghosts return?

The next morning Velma was still fast asleep when she heard a loud knock on the front door; still wearing her bedroom clothing she walked out of her bedroom and went downstairs; the bespectacled teen wondered just who could be visiting her so early in the morning and walked over to the front door to answer it.

She then opened the door and saw two very familiar figures standing there; while she looked through the doorway, her face had a smile that was as wide as the Mississippi River.

"Fred, Daphne! Boy am I glad to see you guys!" Velma exclaimed happily.

"We're glad to see you too Velma, so what's going on? From what Daphne told me you inherited an entire English castle" Fred asked.

"Well sort of Fred, as I already told Daphne I received a package the other day with a bunch of papers and some keys in it; I read one of the papers which was a letter from the local historical society here and it said that I had inherited my family's ancestral home and that I should come right away to England to claim the house and it's contents, so I took a cab to the Coolsville Airport, bought a plane ticket and several hours later I had arrived in England; after that I got a rental car, got directions to Dinkley Hall and here I am" Velma explained.

"Wow Velma, I still can't believe you inherited an entire English castle" Fred commented.

"Yeah, it sure is beautiful" Daphne remarked.

"Thanks guys, it is pretty nice isn't it?" Velma commented.

"Sure is; well now that we're here let's get our things unpacked" Fred remarked.

"That sounds good, come on you guys I'll let you pick out which rooms you want to stay in" Velma replied.

"Sounds like a plan to me" Daphne said.

With that Fred, Daphne and Velma walked through the main portion of the castle, up the stairs and into the hallway that Velma's bedroom was located in.

Fred decided to pick a bedroom that was right down the hall from Velma's room, while Daphne picked a room that was right next to Velma's; both Fred and Daphne walked into their rooms and unpacked their luggage while Velma sat in her bedroom thinking.

She was quite happy that Fred and Daphne had decided to visit her and she was happy that she now had some help in solving whatever mystery Dinkley Hall had, after unpacking Daphne and Fred walked into Velma's room and checked in on her.

"Wow, you guys unpacked already?" Velma asked with a surprised tone in her voice.

"We sure are" Fred replied.

"Likewise" Daphne added.

"Wonderful; now that you two are here maybe you can help me out with a little mystery that I have" Velma said.

"Mystery? What kind of mystery?" Daphne asked.

"Well, why don't we walk back down to the main hall and talk about it" Velma replied.

"Sounds like a good idea to me" Fred remarked.

"Sounds good to me too" Daphne added.

"OK, follow me" Velma said.

The three friends walked down the staircase and back into the main part of the castle; next the three of them walked into the dining area and all three sat down at a large wooden dining room table.

"So Velma, what's this mystery you have for us?" Fred asked.

"Well it's kind of hard to explain, you see when I arrived here at the castle I met the caretaker: a man named Michael Collins, we spoke about how I arrived and I even told him about Mystery Inc. and the careers that the three of us currently have" said Velma began to explain her situation.

"Mr. Collins told me to be careful during my stay because apparently Dinkley Hall is haunted; I actually chuckled a bit and told him that there were no such things as ghosts but he still wanted me to be careful, and listen to this" Velma continued.

"Last night, I began to hear weird noises; it didn't seem to bother me at first but then I decided to go out into the hallway with a candle and investigated, I heard what sounded like chains rattling and ghostly moaning but I figured it was just Mr. Collins trying to scare me so I went back to sleep and that's the mystery" said Velma, finishing her explanation.

"Hmm, this is an interesting mystery Velma; so you think that those noises and the fact that this place is supposed to haunted have something to do with this Collins guy?" Fred asked.

"I'm sure of it; there's no other logical explanation then that" Velma replied.

"Don't worry Velma, whatever mystery is going on here we'll help you solve it" Daphne chimed in.

"That's right, Mystery Inc. is going to crack this case no matter what it takes" Fred remarked.

"Thanks guys, you're the best friends a girl could ask for" Velma replied.

"No problem Velma" Fred commented.

"So what's our plan of action?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I was thinking that we could do a little exploring around this place" Velma explained.

"That sounds like a good plan Velma let's go for it" Fred remarked.

"Cool, now where should we start?" Daphne asked.

"Good question Daphne, this place is so humongous it might take us forever to look through all the rooms" Velma said.

"I doubt it, but one thing's for sure; there do seem to be a lot of rooms" Fred commented.

"Let's try looking in the basement to start with, there might be some clues there" Daphne remarked.

"Good thinking Daph, let's go" Fred replied.

Fred, Daphne and Velma walked down a couple sets of staircases, through a couple of doors until finally the three of them found themselves in the basement; the trio of sleuths looked through the dark and dingy cobweb filled room, looking for any semblance of a clue as to what was really going on inside Dinkley Hall.

"So Velma, any idea what we should look for?" Fred asked.

"Um Fred, why are you asking me this, I thought you were the one who came up with the plans and traps" Velma said with a surprised look on her face.

"Well I figured since it's your family's ancestral castle, you would know what to look for and maybe you would know if we found any clues" Fred replied.

"Good point Fred" the bespectacled teen said.

So with that Velma, Fred and Daphne each looked through a portion of the basement; the trio of detectives hoped to find some semblance of a clue and some idea of just what kind of ghosts or phantoms were haunting the Dinkley family's ancestral castle.

The three determined sleuths searched through every nook and cranny of the basement in the span of several hours, but alas all they could find was dozens of cobwebs, a few old trunks filled with what looked to be mere useless junk, old dresses and clothing which looked to be hundreds of years old, in addition to other miscellaneous knick knacks; having not been able to find a single legitimate clue as to what was happening in the ancient house Velma, Fred and Daphne decided to leave the basement, at least for now.

The three teenage investigators then locked the basement door behind them after leaving and returned back to the dining room to hopefully regroup and figure out what to do next.

"Well gang, I hate to say it but I'm stumped; we checked every inch of the basement and no semblance of a clue, or any rumor of a clue, nothing at all" Fred remarked.

"Yeah I have to say this might be much more difficult than any of our other mysteries; right now we don't have any clues as to whose behind this mystery, or why they're doing whatever they're doing; not to mention we don't have any idea if the ghosts that haunt this place are fake or real" Daphne added.

"Come on you guys, be serious; there's got to be a logical explanation as to why this castle's being haunted and I seriously doubt the ghosts are real, but still..." Velma replied with a curious look on her face.

"Velma, this is really a surprise; almost every single ghost and monster that we've ever faced has been fake, so there has to be a logical reason for the ghosts that are haunting this place, plus we all know that ghosts aren't real" Daphne added.

"I know guys, I know, but don't you think that there are some things in this world that are unexplainable, like maybe there are really ghosts and ghouls out there and maybe this castle is really haunted" Velma replied.

"You can't really believe that can you Velma?" Fred asked.

"Well, I don't really know for sure, but there's always that possibility" the bespectacled girl replied.

"Hmm, I still don't think there are real ghosts haunting this place, but just in case we'll see if we can solve this mystery after dinner" Fred commented.

"Good thinking Freddie, I have to admit I'm kind of starved myself" Daphne added.

"I have an idea, why don't I head into the kitchen and fix something to eat while you guys wait here" Velma explained.

"Velma, you don't have to do that; besides we would be more than happy to help you prepare something to eat" Fred replied.

"No, no you guys are my guests, I'll fix dinner; besides, how hard can it be?" Velma said.

So with that the bespectacled girl headed into the kitchen and started to look through the cupboards, pantry and refrigerator for something to fix for dinner; eventually the teen sleuth found a few things to and started to prepare the items for her friends.

Once the bespectacled girl finished preparing dinner, she brought everything into the dining room and placed several plates of food on the dining room table; Fred and Daphne were quite impressed at Velma's ability to cook and complemented her on her culinary skills; after the trio finished eating they took the dirty dishes, silverware and glasses into the kitchen to wash them.

After doing the dishes the trio of sleuths were all set to get back to solving the mystery of the Dinkley Hall ghosts, that is except for one important detail: the time; each of the three mystery solvers looked at their respective watches and noticed that it was getting quite late so they each decided to head off to their respective bedrooms and hoped that they would be able to get back to solving the mystery in the morning.

After Fred and Daphne took their respective turns in the bathroom brushing their teeth and taking baths, they left and went back to their respective bedrooms; a few moments later after they returned to their bedrooms, each of the sleuths got back into their beds and went to sleep.

Meanwhile after she went into the bathroom, took her shower and brushed her teeth, Velma walked back into her bedroom, climbed into her bed and drifted off to sleep.

After a few hours in bed the bespectacled girl began to hear the same noises as the previous night; as Velma heard the peculiar noises she decided to put on her glasses and sat up in bed.

"Not this corny routine again, that Mr. Collins just doesn't give up; well I'll put a stop to it" Velma thought to herself.

She took out another candle from the nightstand next to her bed and lit it with a match, next to she shone the candle around the bedroom wondering where the sounds were coming from; she didn't find anything in her bedroom and decided to walk into the hallway.

Once again Velma failed to find anything in the hallway and decided to head back to sleep; she walked back into her bedroom and climbed back into bed; she fell asleep rather quickly but it was rather short lived because she once again heard ghostly noises.

"Oh this is ridiculous, this place is not haunted and there are no such things as ghosts" Velma said to herself.

She was just about ready to close her eyes and go back to sleep when she noticed a white blotch of something by the door; when she put her glasses back on she noticed that the blotch became clearer, whatever this thing was in the bespectacled girl's room it started to come closer and closer to her bed which made her both curious and a little nervous as she wondered just what this thing was.

Suddenly the blotch took the shape of what looked to be a man dressed all in white, the man looked to be in his mid 30's or 40's and continued to approach Velma's bed, all the while the bespectacled girl looked on in both amazement and shock as she speculated on just why he was in her bedroom.

"Jinkies! Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" Velma asked with a bewildered tone in her voice.

"Aaah!" the man screamed as he caught sight of Velma.

"Huh? What's going on, why did you scream?" she asked him.

"Oh, sorry about that I'm just a little jumpy" he answered.

"Jumpy?" Velma asked.

"Yes, I always get a little jumpy and nervous when I see a strange person in one of the rooms here" the man replied.

"Strange person? You walked into my bedroom in the middle of the night and scream at the top of your lungs and you call me strange!" Velma said to the man, almost screaming at him as she spoke.

"Walked into? What do you mean walked into your room, I walked through the door into your room" he answered.

"Walked through the door? What do you mean you walked through the door?" Velma asked.

"Just what I said, I walked through the door" the man replied.

"That's ridiculous, nobody can walk through walls; except for ghosts that is" Velma commented.

"Exactly, that's what I am: a ghost" he answered.

"A Ghost? Give me a break; there's no such things as ghosts, you must be some kind of projection, a hologram or something like that" Velma replied.

"No such things as ghosts? Boy I've never heard that one before" he wondered.

With that Velma then decided to get out of the bed and walked over to the ghost; the spectral figure was quite unsure of just what this girl was going to do and nervously backed away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Velma asked.

"Easy, somewhere where nobody will find me" he answered.

"Come on now, if you really are a ghost then I should be able to put my arm right through you" Velma remarked.

"I g-guess that's true" he replied nervously.

Velma then walked over to the ghost and reached for his face.

"This will be the easiest mystery ever; I'll just reach for this so-called ghost's face, unmask him and I'll discover that it will be Mr. Collins, then I'll tell the gang and we can leave" Velma thought to herself.

So Velma reached for the ghost's face, only to have her hand go right through it.

"Could you please not do that again, it's kind of annoying" he said.

"Jinkies, my hand just went right through him, which means he's a real ghost!" Velma said with a shriek.

Velma gasped and then screamed as she ran back to her bed and jumped back under the covers, she cowered under the sheets not expecting to meet an actual ghost, not to mention how the ghost got into her room.

"Could you please not scream like that, it makes me kind of nervous" he replied trying to calm her down.

Hearing Velma's scream, Fred and Daphne ran from their bedrooms over to her room; Fred knocked on the door and wondered why there was no answer.

"Fred I think Velma's in trouble; we've got try and get the door open to help her" Daphne said.

"You're right Daph, here I'll use the key that she gave me" Fred commented; he placed the key in the lock and the door opened, unfortunately the ghost happened to be standing behind the door when Fred opened it; he went right through the door and stumbled backwards.

"Velma, Velma are you alright?" Fred asked; when he and Daphne entered the room they didn't see Velma but they did see a figure shivering under the bed sheets.

Fred and Daphne walked over to the bed and lifted up the covers only to find Velma nervously shaking.

"Velma, what's the matter?" Fred asked.

"Th-that!" Velma pointed at the door.

Fred and Daphne turned and saw the same ghost that Velma had seen earlier; as soon as he saw the two of them however he quickly disappeared.

"Jeepers, was that what I think it was?" Daphne asked.

"If you mean that ghost, I'm not sure" Fred remarked.

The two of them walked back over to Velma's bed and wondered why she was under the covers and also what was going on.

"Velma, why are you hiding under the covers? That's really unlike you" Fred said.

"Oh yeah? Well you would do that too if you saw a ghost in your room!" Velma explained.

"Jeepers" Daphne remarked.

"That's impossible Velma, it was probably someone trying to scare you" Fred commented.

"Well if that's what it was they sure did a good job" Velma replied.

"One thing I can't understand though" Fred thought.

"What's that Fred?" Daphne asked.

"Why did the ghost leave after Daphne and I entered the room?" Fred wondered.

"Good question Fred, I just wish I knew what happened" Velma replied.

"I wouldn't find out what's happening around here myself" Fred commented.

"I do know one thing though" Velma remarked.

"What's that?" Daphne asked.

"If this place really is haunted, then I inherited the first haunted house I know of that has a ghost that reminds me of Shaggy and Scooby" Velma remarked.

"Why's that Velma?" Fred asked.

"Because of several things; first he screamed when he caught sight of me, second he seemed kind of jumpy and nervous not to mention right after I put my hand through him to see if he was real, he disappeared" Velma explained.

"Hmm, that certainly is strange; why would a ghost do all of those things?" Daphne wondered.

"Maybe he's not your average run-of-the-mill ghost" Fred said.

"Maybe, maybe not" Velma remarked.

"Well, now what should we do?" Daphne asked.

"Hmm, well with a ghost running around this place going back to sleep might not be such a great idea" Velma thought.

"True, maybe we should do some more investigating around this place to see if we can find out more about our cowardly ghost" Fred explained.

"Good idea Fred, maybe we should start with the attic this time" Velma replied.

"Good thinking Velma, let's get going" Fred commented.

With that Fred, Daphne and Velma walked down the hallway and up a few flights of stairs; after several minutes of walking the three of them came upon a large door, Fred tried to open it but he discovered that it was locked, Velma then walked up to the door and used one the keys on her key ring to open it.

After opening the door Fred, Daphne and Velma walked into the dark and dusty looking room; the three of them began looking around the attic for any sign of a clue.

Within a few moments Velma had found an old trunk filled with all manner of books, family mementos and other items and began looking through it.

While she was searching she found a brown leather bound book that looked quite old, Velma thought that this might be an important clue and called over to Fred and Daphne.

The two of them then walked over to where Velma was standing and wondered what she had found.

"What's that Velma?" Fred asked.

"I don't know yet, but it might be related to my family's history" Velma replied.

"Well, let's take a look at it and see" Fred remarked.

Velma opened the book and began to leaf through it; it was indeed a book describing the family's history, included within it's pages were a history of the Dinkley family, pictures of the various generations of her family and miscellaneous other items.

She came to a page in the middle of the book and did a double take after looking something that was written on it; Velma then gasped as she came to something that was quite shocking to her.

"What's wrong Velma?" Fred asked.

Velma pointed out an old picture in the book to the two of them.

"I don't understand, what's so scary about an old picture?" Fred asked.

"Well, the scary part of it is that I think this is a picture of the ghost" Velma replied.

"Hmm, mind if I see that book Velma?" Fred asked.

"Sure Fred" Velma replied.

Velma handed Fred the leather bound book and he began to read the text that was underneath the picture.

"Captain Alexander Dinkley, born 1430, died 1470; Captain Dinkley was the skipper of the _S.S._ _Cartsdale_, a merchant ship which sailed the English seas for nearly twenty years" Fred began to read.

"That's strange, if my math is correct he died when he was forty; but there's one other thing though, why would the ghost of an English sea captain be haunting my family's ancestral family home?" Velma asked.

"Got me, but this also says he was a bit of a chicken and was always the butt of practical jokes that his shipmates would play on him" Fred continued.

"Jinkies, why would his shipmates do that and why wouldn't he fight back?" Velma asked.

"I don't know, but I guess according to this because of his cowardice he was cursed to haunt this castle for the rest of his days, that is until he performs one act of bravery for or to assist any of his ancestors, then if I'm reading this right, the curse will be broken and his spirit will be free" Fred said as he finished reading.

"Terrific, I inherit my family's ancestral castle, then I decide to live here; then I find out the place is haunted and for some reason the ghost is one of my ancestors not to mention the fact that he's a scaredy cat" Velma remarked.

"I guess that's about the gist of it Velma" Daphne replied.

"I sure wish had thought twice about coming here" Velma remarked.

"Why's that?" Fred asked.

"Because this is without a doubt one of the weirdest mysteries that I've ever encountered" Velma replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Fred, Daphne and Velma stood in the attic of Dinkley Hall thinking about the strange mystery that they had walked into which included a haunted house, a scaredy cat ghost who happened to be one of Velma's ancestors and who knows what else.

Fred gave the book that he had been reading back to Velma, the three of them locked up the attic and headed back towards Velma's bedroom.

"You know, the next time I see Shaggy and Scooby I'm going to give them each a big hug, a kiss and even take them out to a nice dinner" Velma remarked as she opened the door to her room.

The three friends then sat down in chairs and on the bed in the room and continued to talk about what their next plan of action was going to be.

"Velma, there's something I want to ask you" Fred said.

"Go ahead Fred" Velma replied.

"All three of us have known Shaggy and Scooby for years, and now you want to take them out to dinner, what's up?" Fred asked.

"Well, let's just say now that I know someone who's related to me is a scaredy cat I have a greater appreciation for what Shaggy and Scooby have had to go through all this time" Velma explained.

"How so?" Daphne asked.

"Shaggy and Scooby have been solving mysteries with us for so many years; they've been chased by so may ghosts and monsters, plus we've sent them out as bait for our traps I don't know how many times; now ever since I found out my ancestor's ghost was a scaredy cat ghost I've come to the realization that Shaggy and Scooby being cowards aren't necessarily a bad thing" Velma commented.

"Velma I don't think I've ever seen you like this; you certainly have changed since we got here" Fred commented.

"Hmm, I never thought of it that way Fred, but I guess I have changed a bit" Velma said.

"I guess this is going to take some getting used to" Daphne replied.

"There's one other thing that I haven't told you guys that I guess I should share" Velma remarked.

"What's that Velma?" Fred wondered.

"Well, to tell you guys the truth it's something about Shaggy and Scooby; I've been thinking about this for some time now and I think this is the time to share it" Velma commented.

"What about Shag and Scooby did you want to say?" Daphne asked.

"It's this: for many years I've well, had a crush on Shaggy; I just never told anybody about it until now because I was afraid people would laugh at me saying that it was just a silly crush and that he would never tell me how he felt" Velma explained.

"That's actually really sweet Velma; we would have never laughed at you for saying that, if you have a feeling for anyone you should tell them about it and not keep your emotions bottled up" Daphne told her.

"Yeah Velma I agree with Daphne, if you have a crush or have feelings for some one it's quite all right to share them with that person" Fred responded smiling.

"Thanks guys I knew you would understand how I felt and the next time we see them I'll tell Shaggy and Scooby exactly what I told you guys" Velma said.

"Now, let's get back to solving this mystery" Fred remarked.

"Right, what should we do know?" Daphne asked.

"Hmm, I think we should see if we can find out some more information about Captain Dinkley and see if we can help him out" Velma said.

"Good idea Velma" Fred commented.

"But where should we look for clues next?" Daphne asked.

"Well, if we want some more information than a good place to look would be in the library" Velma commented.

"Good thinking Velma" Fred replied.

So Fred, Daphne and Velma walked downstairs and began their search for the library; the three of them made their way through the hallway towards the library, after a few minutes of walking the three detectives found themselves in front of a large wooden door, Velma opened the door as Fred and Daphne followed her inside.

"Wow look at this place, there must be hundreds of bookshelves in here stacked all the way to the ceiling" Fred remarked.

"Then this must be the library" Daphne thought.

"I think you're right Daphne" Velma replied.

"Boy I've never seen so many books in one place before" Fred remarked.

"Me neither, but one thing's for sure; this is the place where we should find a way to help out Captain Dinkley" Velma commented.

"And possibly the answer to our mystery" Fred remarked.

"One problem though; there are so many books here I wouldn't know where to start" Daphne said.

"Hmm, why don't each of us take a section of the library; then we'll each bring some books to the table in the middle of the room and see if we can find any clues" Velma explained.

"Right, come on gang let's start searching" Fred commented.

Fred, Daphne and Velma each began searching different sections of the rather enormous room; within no time at all each of them had taken a stack of books and brought them over to a large table in the middle of the room.

Each of them began reading a book searching for anything that would help them solve the mystery of Dinkley Hall; during their time in the library Velma had a strange feeling that someone was watching them and decided to tell her friends about it.

"Fred?" Velma said.

"What's up Velma?" Fred asked.

"I don't know but I get the distinct feeling that we're being watched" Velma replied.

"Don't be silly Velma, there can't be anybody watching us" Fred responded.

"You're probably right Fred, it must have been my imagination" Velma replied.

As the three investigators continued reading the eyes of a portrait behind Velma slid out and a pair of human eyes replaced them; in this case it was not Velma's imagination: some one was watching them.

The regular painted eyes of the portrait then slid back into place as the three continued looking for clues.

Suddenly a strange white figure began to materialize behind Velma; Daphne who was reading happened to see the figure out of the corner of her eye and gasped.

"Velma, I really think you should look behind you" Daphne remarked.

"Why Daphne?" Velma asked.

"Because there's something there" Daphne said nervously.

"Don't be silly Daphne, there can't be anything there" Velma replied.

The figure then finished materializing and took the shape of Captain Dinkley's ghost.

The ghost looked over Velma's shoulder and saw that she was reading; he was quite interested in what was going on and spoke up.

"So it looks like you're reading books huh?" the ghost asked.

Velma heard the ghostly voice and turned around to see the ghost of Captain Dinkley standing or rather floating right in front of a bookcase.

Velma gasped for a second but then smiled as she saw the very familiar figure.

"Hi Captain Dinkley" Velma said greeting the ghost.

"Oh no not you again; why are you still here?" asked Captain Dinkley with a tone of disappointment in his voice.

"What do you mean why am I still here?" Velma wondered.

"Well, I'm a ghost and usually mortals are easily frightened by ghosts; so I just assumed that you would have left by now" he replied.

"Oh, well that's where you're wrong Captain and I don't frighten easy" she responded.

"Oh I give up; I was a washout as a person and now I'm a washout as a ghost" Captain Dinkley replied beginning to sob uncontrollably.

The ghostly captain then decided to sit down in one of the chairs at the table along with Fred, Daphne and Velma.

"Don't feel bad Captain, just because you were a fraidy cat in the 1600's doesn't mean you have to be a coward now that you're a ghost" Velma explained.

"The 1600's? So I guess you know about my past cowardice" he replied.

"Pretty much" Velma responded.

"Great, just great; I guess I pretty much ruined the legacy of the Dinkley family forever" he replied.

"No, not necessarily; I'm a Dinkley and I don't think you ruined the family legacy" Velma said.

"You're a Dinkley? Wow I didn't realize that, I'm sorry I startled you miss, miss; what is your name by the way?" Captain Dinkley asked.

"That's all right, my name is Velma Dinkley, your ancestor from modern times and these are my friends Fred Jones and Daphne Blake" she answered introducing the gang.

"Nice to meet all of you" Captain Dinkley said.

"It's nice to meet you too sir" Daphne replied.

"Likewise" Fred added.

"Tell me how exactly did you get here Velma?" asked the captain.

"Well I inherited this place; I received a package one day which contained a letter detailing the history of this place, some miscellaneous papers and a set of keys for the house" Velma replied.

"That sounds pretty interesting, I guess my life is pretty dull compared to your life Velma; solving mysteries all over the world, plus once you worked as a scientist for NASA, I just wish my life was as exciting as yours" Captain Dinkley said lamenting his current situation.

"Oh come on Captain Dinkley, you were the captain of a merchant ship plus you delivered goods all over Europe; if you ask me that sounds like a pretty exciting life" Velma replied.

"Yes, but I was picked on almost all the time, plus my shipmates would play all kinds of practical jokes on me, and now as a ghost I'm a scaredy cat" Captain Dinkley whined.

"Listen Captain, I usually don't believe in ghosts but in this case I'll make an exception; you're a ghost and every other ghost, phantom and apparition my friends and I have encountered while phony were quite frightening, so my suggestion would be to start acting like the ghost you're supposed to be!" Velma said trying to give her ghostly ancestor some well needed confidence.

"I know, I know but I just don't think I'm up to it" Captain Dinkley replied.

"Captain, while we haven't been in these situations much before I still think we can help you out" Fred responded.

"But Fred, how are we going to help a ghost who is more of a chicken than even Shaggy and Scooby are?" Daphne asked.

"I think I have an idea that might work" Velma commented.

"OK Velma, let's hear it" Fred replied.

"Well, I figure that Captain Dinkley could help us out in solving the mystery of who's haunting this place" Velma explained.

"I thought that Captain Dinkley was haunting this place" Daphne wondered aloud.

"Yes I have been haunting Dinkley Hall for centuries now" he replied.

"If that's true then what about the rattling chains and moaning sounds that I heard the night I came here?" Velma asked.

"Moaning sounds and rattling chains? I sure don't remember doing any of that" Captain Dinkley remarked.

"Hmm, it sounds like there's another ghost in the house besides the Captain here" Velma thought.

"Another ghost? That's just great, I thought I was the only ghost in town and now there's somebody else? I don't know about you three but I'm leaving" Captain Dinkley said with a whimper.

"You can't leave Captain, not yet at least" Fred commented.

"Oh and why is that?" he asked.

"Because you're going to help us catch the other ghost" Velma said.

"I am? Oh no; I'm not going after some spook, that creepy ghost could figure out someway to make me disappear or worse" Captain Dinkley remarked nervously.

"Oh yes you are, you're going to help us and that's that!" Velma replied as her voice went up a few octaves.

"I still don't know about this" Captain Dinkley said.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen to you" Daphne replied.

"Yeah, we won't let anything happen to you no matter what" Velma remarked.

"Well, I still don't know; I would still feel safer if you had some other plan that didn't involve me" Captain Dinkley replied.

"Hmm, whenever Shaggy and Scooby didn't want to go into or do something that they thought was creepy or frightening we usually gave them Scooby Snacks and they would usually take the assignment with no problems" Velma thought.

"I'm curious about a couple things; first: what are Scooby Snacks and second who are Shaggy and Scooby?" Captain Dinkley asked.

"I'll be glad to answer both questions for you captain; first, Scooby Snacks are a special item that we give to our two other friends/investigators to calm their nerves when preparing to investigate a creepy or haunted place; and second Shaggy and Scooby are the two other members of our group, they're really funny and they have been really great friends to us for as long as we've known them" Velma explained.

"I'm guessing Shaggy and Scooby get as easily frightened of things as I do" Captain Dinkley replied.

"They certainly do; of course if they ever saw you Captain they would probably freak out, they usually get scared of ghosts, monsters and any other supernatural creature you can think of" Velma commented.

"Hmm, I bet I would like them if I ever met them; they sound like my kind of mortals" he remarked.

"Yeah they are pretty cool; now Captain Dinkley will you help us track down the ghost?" Velma asked.

"I suppose I could" he replied.

"Good, now let's figure out a plan to flush the ghost out of hiding" Velma remarked.

"I think I have one" Fred said.

"OK Freddie what is it?" Daphne asked.

"My plan is this, we'll split up and see if we can find that so-called spook; then when we find him Captain Dinkley will act as bait in order to trap him" Fred explained.

"Sounds good, let's get going" Velma remarked.

"Right, come on gang" Fred said.

The gang walked out of the library and headed back out into the passageway; Fred and Daphne explored one part of the passageway while Velma and Captain Dinkley headed in the opposite direction.

Velma and Captain Dinkley walked through the passageway, as the walked the both of them noticed all sorts of paintings and artwork on the walls; the two of them had been walking for quite a while when they heard some very familiar sounds.

"Oh, not that chain rattling and ghostly moaning again; those sounds make me so nervous" Captain Dinkley said.

"Now don't start acting like a fraidy cat, come on let's see if we can find out where those sounds are coming from" Velma replied.

"You go right ahead, I'll wait right here if you don't mind" Captain Dinkley remarked.

"Come on" Velma said pushing the captain along through the passage.

As the two of them made their way through the passage they noticed that an old suit of armor was walking along the hallway.

"What's that?" the captain asked.

"We'll soon find out, come on" Velma said.

Captain Dinkley followed her as they began running after the now alive suit of armor.

"You know, I've always thought that suits of armor couldn't walk around" Captain Dinkley said.

"Well I guess we found one that's an exception to the rule" Velma replied.

The two of them cornered the suit of armor and walked over to it to see who was inside; however the pair received a surprise when Velma lifted the helmet and no one was inside it.

"Oh great, whoever was in the armor's disappeared" Velma remarked.

"I guess whoever this other ghost is, he's going to be hard to track down" Captain Dinkley replied.

In the other part of the passageway Fred and Daphne searched a number of rooms looking for any clues that would help them solve the mystery of Dinkley Hall.

"Let's look in this room Daphne" Fred commented.

"OK" Daphne replied.

Fred opened the door and the two of them walked inside; in the room were a bed, a nightstand, a lamp and a few other items.

"I wonder what this room is" Daphne wondered.

"Hmm, if I didn't know any better I would say that this is the caretaker's room" Fred replied.

"How can you tell?" Daphne asked.

"Easy, look over here" Fred said as he walked over to the nightstand.

Fred picked up a set of keys that were sitting on top of the nightstand next to the lamp.

"Hey, those look like the same keys that Velma has" Daphne said.

"I think you're right Daphne, let's see if there any other clues in here" Fred replied.

Fred and Daphne began going over the room; each of them took a side and started to look for clues once again; Daphne had been looking through the drawers of the night stand and found a couple of very interesting items.

"Fred look what I found!" Daphne called.

"Uh, Daphne you don't have to yell I'm only a couple of feet away" Fred replied.

"Oh sorry Fred, but take a look at what I found in the night stand" Daphne commented.

She handed Fred a tape recorder with a tape still in it and an old looking set of chains.

"Hmm very interesting; Velma described rattling chains and ghostly moaning the first night she was here right" Fred remarked.

"Yes, that's correct" Daphne responded.

"Well I have a hunch that these were the rattling chains that she described; and I have an idea that when I start this tape recorder we'll have the other piece of the puzzle" Fred explained.

"I think you're right Fred, let's play the tape and find out" Daphne replied.

Fred and Daphne sat down on the bed as he placed the tape recorder on one of the pillows; Fred then pushed the play button and the tape started.

As Fred expected the recorder began to play the sounds of ghosts, or at least ghostly wailing and moaning.

Fred pushed the stop button on the recorder and thought for a second.

"Daphne, I think we've just solved this mystery; come on let's get Velma and Captain Dinkley and set a trap for our ghost" Fred said.

Fred and Daphne took the clues that they found with them and left the room; the two of them walked back into the hallway to rejoin Velma and the captain.

Suddenly the pair of sleuths began to hear more strange noises and wondered where they were coming from.

"Fred, we have that tape recorder with us right?" Daphne asked.

"Yes and the tape isn't playing either" Fred replied.

"Well then how come we're hearing noises again?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know but I think we're about to meet up with the so-called phantom" Fred commented.

The two of them then saw a white figure appear out of nowhere and began to walk towards them.

"Fred, you and I both know that this thing whatever it isn't real right" Daphne remarked.

"Of course it's not but still just in case" Fred replied.

"We should run" Daphne commented.

"Good idea, let's go!" Fred remarked.

The two of them ran back through the passageway towards where Velma and the captain were.

As they searched one of the rooms Velma and Captain Dinkley began to hear footsteps coming from the hallway.

"Oh, it sounds like somebody's coming" Captain Dinkley whined.

"Come on, we'll hide around the corner and capture whoever it is" Velma remarked.

"O-ok" the captain replied nervously.

Velma and the Captain hid out of sight waiting for the so-called ghost; the two of them heard the footsteps getting much louder as they came closer.

"Ready captain?" Velma asked with a whisper.

"I-I'm ready as I'll ever be I guess" he remarked nervously.

"Ready, one two three!" Velma yelled as she and the captain rushed into the hallway; they had hoped to capture the other ghost but instead had captured Fred and Daphne.

"Ooh, next time you decide to that Velma, could you warn us" Fred said.

"Sorry guys we thought you were the ghost" Velma explained.

"No, but we did see him" Daphne replied.

"Y-you did?" Captain Dinkley asked nervously.

"Right and we found a couple of clues as well" Fred remarked handing Velma the tape recorder and the chains.

"Jinkies, I think these clues should just about wrap up the mystery; not only that but if you guys found these where I think you found them I know who's behind this and why they're doing it" Velma replied.

"We did and I agree Velma, it's about time to trap ourselves a ghost" Fred explained.

Fred, Daphne, Velma and the captain walked back down the hallway and into the library; after doing so Fred explained his plan to capture the phony ghost to Velma, Captain Dinkley and Daphne.

The three of them listened to Fred's plan closely and carefully; the plan was one of Fred's usual capture the ghost plans: setting up a convoluted trap in the hallway, having Captain Dinkley as bait to lure the ghost out of hiding and so on.

After explaining his plan Fred, Daphne and Velma walked into the hallway, the three of them then set up their Rube Goldberg style trap as the girls listened.

"Here's how the trap will work, those suits of armor are connected to a long pulley rope and the rope is connected to a large net which is hanging from that chandelier, when Captain Dinkley lures the ghost into the hallway we'll pull the rope which releases the net trapping the ghost" Fred said.

"Sounds good, come on let's stay out of sight and watch for the ghost" Daphne remarked.

The three of them hid while Captain Dinkley stood in the hallway walking along waiting for the ghost to show.

"I guess I know what Shaggy and Scooby feel like whenever they have to the bait for one of Fred, Daphne and Velma's traps, this luring the ghost out of hiding thing is for the birds" Captain Dinkley remarked as he nervously walked down the hall.

Suddenly strange laughter began to ring through the hallway, which made the captain quite nervous.

"Gulp, I guess it's time to for me to face my fears; hey ghost come out, come out wherever you are!" Captain Dinkley said.

A few second later, a strange white figure appeared in the hallway; the captain shook nervously but he knew that he had a job to do and that job was to lure the ghost into the gang's trap.

The captain ran down the hallway as fast as possible with the ghost in tow, Captain Dinkley then led the phantom past numerous doors and into the area where Fred, Daphne and Velma were hiding.

He waited for the ghost to show and when he did the captain led the ghost over to the suits of armor before disappearing, the phony ghost smacked right into them; then after the ghost hit the armor Fred pulled the rope which caused the net to fall right on top of the so-called ghost.

"Good work gang, we've caught him!' Fred exclaimed.

"OK Captain Dinkley you can reappear now" Velma said.

"D-d-did you guys capture him?" the captain asked.

"Yes captain we've caught him" Daphne remarked.

Captain Dinkley then re-materialized and stayed out of sight because he knew that if the fake ghost saw him there would be problems.

"Now, let's see who this ghost really is, Velma would like to do the honors?" Fred asked.

"Certainly Fred, and if my calculations are correct then I know exactly who this is" Velma replied.

The bespectacled sleuth walked over to the phony ghost to unmask him; the ghost growled as Velma reached for his face to take off his mask; she removed the disguise and was not surprised by who was underneath it.

"Just as I figured it's Mr. Collins the castle care-taker; Fred, when I told you guys about the chains and the ghostly sounds I originally thought that there was a real ghost here; but I knew from so many years of solving mysteries that it had to be someone who was trying to scare me away for some reason" she explained.

"Right Velma, then when we found the tape recorder with tape of ghostly sound effects still in it and the old chains in the Mr. Collins room we were able to put two and two together and realized what was going on" Fred continued the explanation.

"Mr. Collins dressed up as the ghost and probably dressed up in that suit of armor too, and all just to scare me away from Dinkley Hall" Velma remarked.

"There's still one thing I don't understand why did he do it?" Daphne asked.

"Why, I'll tell you why; my family has been care-taking for this castle for generations and I wanted the castle for my own, so I dressed up as a ghost and tried to scare miss Velma here away from the castle for good and I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for you meddling kids!" he declared angrily.

"Well it looks like any haunting you do from now on will be from behind bars" Fred commented.

Later on in the day the gang called the local constabulary and told them what had been going on; a few minutes later a police car parked in the driveway, the officer from the car knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

Velma heard the knocking and opened the door; the officer walked inside and looked around at the gang and the now unmasked Mr. Collins.

Fred, Daphne and Velma explained how the gang arrived at the castle, how the gang found out the castle was haunted and how Mr. Collins dressed up as the ghost in order to scare Velma away from Dinkley Hall so that he could take the castle for himself.

The officer listened intently throughout the entire story; then after the gang was finished the constable walked over to Mr. Collins and placed a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.

The Constable led Mr. Collins through the door and into his car; the car then drove out of the driveway and out of sight back towards town.

After having lunch and dinner the gang talked for a little while longer, after that each member of the group took showers and went to bed still thinking about the incredible adventure they had at Dinkley Hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning the gang woke up and sat at the breakfast table still talking over their latest mystery when a familiar figure appeared in the room.

"Hello Captain Dinkley, how are you doing?" Velma asked.

"Terrific Velma, terrific; how about yourself?" he answered.

"Fine, fine and by the way Fred, Daphne and I slept like babies; well now that Mr. Collins in jail" Velma replied.

"That reminds me, how long are you going to stay here now that the mystery's over" Captain Dinkley wondered.

"Well, that's what I wanted to tell you Captain Dinkley; Fred, Daphne and I are heading home today after we eat breakfast" Velma replied.

"Oh, what are you going to do with Dinkley Hall then?" he asked.

"Well it's kind of a surprise that I wanted to tell you about; last night I contacted the local historical society and told them about this place and you, they jumped at the chance to acquire the property and get this: they're going to turn it into a combination tourist attraction/museum, a haunted museum" Velma explained.

"That's wonderful Velma, I'm so glad that I'll still be able to hang around the castle" Captain Dinkley replied.

"Yeah, just think captain people from all over the world will come to see this place and to see you a real live ghost" Daphne remarked.

"Really?" the captain asked.

"Of course, you would be surprised how many people are interested in the super natural and haunted places" Fred commented.

"Thank you kids you're the best friend a ghost ever had" Captain Dinkley said as he shook each of the gang's hands.

After eating breakfast, Fred Daphne and Velma packed up their luggage into each of their rental cars; but before they left they each said one final goodbye to their new ghostly friend.

"Well Captain Dinkley we have to get going now" Fred remarked.

"Yeah, we have to head to the airport and then fly back to the US" Daphne commented.

"We sure had a lot of fun here though and we'll remember you for a long time to come" Velma remarked.

"Thanks Velma, you're one of the nicest mortals I've ever met" Captain Dinkley replied.

"And even though we still don't really believe in ghosts, I'm sure glad I got to meet you captain" Velma said with a smile.

"Thanks kids I'm sure glad I got to meet you too" the captain said smiling back.

"Time to go gang and good bye Captain Dinkley" Fred commented.

"Good bye kids and thanks" Captain Dinkley replied.

The gang walked back outside the house and each of them got into their respective rental cars; they started them and drove out of sight as Captain Dinkley waved at them from the castle window.

Later the gang arrived back at the airport, checked in their rental cars and bought tickets for a flight back to the USA; they did so and after waiting a while the gang boarded the plane as it took off back to America.

Fred, Daphne and Velma would go onto have many more adventures during the time that the gang were all doing their separate things, but throughout the whole time that Velma traveled with Fred and Daphne she still thought of her ancestor who was a scaredy cat ghost as well Dinkley Hall and what she had told her friends about Shaggy and Scooby as well.

Velma waited and waited to tell Shaggy her feeling but she had to wait quite a while until the gang reunited; eventually the gang did reunite as they traveled to Moonscar Island in Louisiana as well as traveling all over the world to many other places where they solved many more mysteries, both with real and fake ghosts and monsters; overall Velma couldn't be happier that Mystery Inc. was together again; plus she desperately wanted to tell Shaggy how she felt about him.

After the gang traveled to Moonscar Island where the bespectacled girl found herself attracted to a police detective named Beau Neville, then the gang went to Massachusetts where Velma and the rest of the gang ended up solving a mystery with the intelligent female sleuth's author idol: a horror writer named Ben Ravencroft, who ended up using the gang to find a spell book for him, then Shaggy and Scooby fell in love with a girl and Golden Retriever named Crystal and Amber respectively, but they were devastated to learn that they were aliens from a distant galaxy; Shaggy and Velma were each completely distraught about their most recent admirers/love interests that eventually they decided to take some time off from love and romance, but deep down in her heart Velma knew she had genuine feelings for the cowardly teen, feelings that if she didn't tell Shaggy soon she might not get to tell him ever; so on one November evening Velma went over to the house that Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were living in to talk to him.

While sitting in the living room of the house watching television Shaggy heard a knock on the front door; he went over to answer it and got a surprise after opening it.

"Velma, what brings you over here?" Shaggy asked.

"Well Shaggy I wanted to talk to you about something" Velma replied.

"Sure Velma, come on in" Shaggy said.

He closed the door as he and Velma walked into the living room; Shaggy was curious as to why Velma was visiting him and asked her about it.

"So Velma, what did you want to speak to me about?" he asked.

"Well Shaggy, it's kind of private and I don't really want to talk about it in front of Scooby and Scrappy" Velma replied.

"OK, well we can talk in my bedroom that should work" Shaggy commented.

"Sounds good" Velma said.

"Scooby, Scrappy; Velma and I will be in my bedroom if you need us, you guys can watch whatever you want" Shaggy replied.

"OK Shaggy" Scrappy said.

Velma and Shaggy walked down the hallway and into Shaggy's bedroom; Shaggy closed the door so they wouldn't be disturbed, then he and Velma walked over to the bed and sat down.

"So Velma what brings you over here?" Shaggy asked.

"Well Shaggy it's kind of complicated but it all started after the five of us took some time off from solving mysteries and you guys took the Mystery Machine" Velma said.

"Yeah, sorry about that we needed the Mystery Machine for our travels; if I had a regular car I would have used it" Shaggy replied.

"It's ok Shaggy I don't mind; anyway after you guys left it was me, Daphne and Fred as you know" Velma explained.

"Right, I understand" Shaggy replied.

"Well, as it turns out Daphne, Fred and I had plenty of adventures just like you the two of you and Scrappy and during one of them we traveled to England where I inherited my ancestral family home" Velma explained.

"Wow, I went to my ancestral family's home too a long time ago, mine was in Austria though" Shaggy replied.

"I'm guessing something happened while you were in Austria right?" Velma asked.

"Yep, this creepy guy used an old family medallion to transform me into a Werewolf" Shaggy replied.

"That's nothing Shaggy, at my ancestral family home the caretaker dressed up as a ghost in order to scare me off so he could take over the castle and top it all off the three of us met a real ghost" Velma remarked.

"A r-real ghost?" Shaggy asked nervously.

"Yep, and not only that he turned out to be an ancestor of mine: a ship captain who sailed the English seas during the 1600's" Velma replied.

"Like it's too bad I wasn't there, I wouldn't mind meeting him some day" Shaggy remarked.

"Don't worry, we'll go back there someday and you can meet him" Velma replied.

"Like groovy, for once I'll get to meet a friendly ghost" Shaggy remarked.

"Yeah, anyway there's something that I told Fred and Daphne about you that I've never told anyone else" Velma commented.

"Like what's that?" Shaggy asked.

"Well, it's kind of personal; you see after finding out I had an ancestor who was a cowardly ghost I came to realize that maybe you and Scooby being chickens wasn't such a bad thing after all" Velma explained.

"Velma, you've never mentioned that before, are you sure that you have no problems with me and Scooby being cowardly?" Shaggy asked.

"Of course not, everybody has things that they're afraid of and you guys are no exception; but do me a favor Shaggy and don't tell Fred, Daphne, Scooby or Scrappy about this ok?" Velma replied.

"No problem Velma" Shaggy remarked.

"Thanks Shaggy, you're a wonderful friend" Velma replied.

"No problem, now what else did you want to tell me?" Shaggy asked.

"Well, I told Fred and Daphne that for many years now I've had a kind of a crush on you Shaggy" Velma remarked.

"A crush? Velma, you've never mentioned that before, that's really nice of you to say that" Shaggy commented.

"You're welcome Shaggy and I really do mean that, you've been such a good friend to me for so many years and I figured it was time to tell you how I felt about you" Velma replied.

"No problem Velma and you want to know something?" Shaggy asked.

"Sure, what is it?" Velma replied.

"Well, to tell you the truth all these years I've felt exactly the same way Velma, you've always been such a cool friend to me too, thanks for being there for me for all this time Velma" Shaggy said.

"You're welcome Shaggy and thanks for being there for me too" Velma replied.

"Like no problem Velma, no problem" Shaggy commented.

Shaggy and Velma each stood up from the bed and gave one other a friendly hug; the two of them then looked and smiled at each other as they opened the bedroom door and walked back into the living room.

The two of them then realized that no matter what happened in their lives they would always be best friends and would always be there for each other; while the both of them knew that they would be life long friends they also realized that maybe just maybe they had genuine feelings for each other and maybe someday each of them would be able to share those feelings with one another, not to mention they might be able to bring those feelings out into the open and maybe they would be just like Fred and Daphne, that is to say that they would be boyfriend and girlfriend, but for now Shaggy and Velma were the best of friends and nothing in the world, not a ghost, not a monster or not even if either of them fell in love with someone else would break up that friendship.


End file.
